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12/21/2010

-Foreigners need a permit. From my experience, the easiest way is to get it at the border post in Rangpo. It is free and it takes 10 minutes : you just need a copy of your passport and visa, and 2 identity pictures.

-By air: Bagdogra airport (and 4h by jeep till Gangtok OR 30 min by helicopter for 2 200 Rs (around. 40€) – be aware that you have to carry less than 10 kg to be admitted)

-Gangtok, not well rated in guides, I kinda liked it : the huge pedestrian place where I drank an excellent hot chocolate, the surrounding mountains, the cleanliness (5 000 Rs and 6 months emprisonment if you are caugth throwing your garbage on the street – they will be inspired starting it in some other places (and parallely to start a waste management system), urbanism (they had fly overs for pedestrians in order not to block the main street !) and the very fashionable style (hair and clothes) of people there. And to finish people leave you move around in peace. In such a peace!

-I also loved the night at the Sungay Guesthouse in Rumtek, inside the monastery premises. A night of quiet and nature!!

Departure from Kurseong (mid-way between Siliguri and Darjeetling): otpion Diesel or steam (train 9D) but be aware that there are landslides every year and sometimes (like since June this year), the train tracks are damaged – thankfully the train was working between Kurseong and Darjeeling (3 hours): http://203.176.113.182/DHR/

To see in Darjeeling :

-Of course, the tea plantations – but you have to chose the time properly. For instance, the tea pickers were only picking dead branches when we went !

-I really liked the zoo which had only local animals (and healthy ones !)

-I was bemused by the museum of High Mountain trekking. You had to be mad to climb the Everest with an electroshock machine to revive your iced feet!

-And splendid: the sunrise in Tiger Hill on the Himalayan chain of the majestuous Kanchenjunga (8.598 m), considered for a long time as the highest peak of the world, before the British measured the Everest and K2. This sunrise was so gorgeous I almost forgot it was the wee hour of the morning, it was freezing cold and there were about 200 noisy Indians. The funny part is they all looked at the sunrise itself and not once at the mountains (in the opposite direction) which was the thing to watch!!

12/17/2010

After a grandiose trip along the Ganges in April, Vincent came back to India in November. This time: Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Practical points

Be aware of the cold!! The temparatures this year in November in Darjeeling (2134m) were between 8 and 15°C. Same thing in Gangtok (1500m) but more humid.

It can be useful to take a torch: when you reach at 6 PM in a pitch dark night (because of electricity cut in the whole city), it is not so nice.

Other problem linked to the power cuts (we had 2 cuts in 2 nights): you are in a fine tea shop and your bill is quite huge. Hence you have to give your card because who carries so much cash? Well, they don’t take the card. So you go to the nearest ATM (also the only one in town) and… yes, it is off because it works with electricity!!

As for the history of the place (quite interesting): in the 1800’s, the British decided to map their Indian territory. They went up to Darjeeling which belonged then to Sikkim and where hardly a few families were living. They found the place would be adapted to a sanatorium for British soldiers.

They had a talk with the king of Sikkim and rented the place for a few rupees since it was an empty land. In the meantime, they build the city (I mean, Nepalese (Gorkha ethnie), Tibetans and Bhutanese did) and found it suitable for tea plantations.The city grew bigger and started attracting people from Sikkim which displeased the king. He kidnapped 2 Britishers who were touring in Sikkim. The Company sent a troop and the king released the 2 guys. To punish him, the English annexed Darjeeling.

And now (I mean since 1907) some of the people who actually originally populated the place are asking for independence from West Bengal and the creation of Gorkhaland.

As a consequence, the area is not so quiet at the moment because some people want the independence from West Bengal but that should not prevent from going there!!